Daily Devotional, June 24

"Foundations"

A nearly finished 13-story apartment building
in Shanghai toppled over like a lone domino
pushed by an invisible hand. An engineer on
site said, "When we arrived on the scene, we were
very shook up. In my 46 years of work, I've never seen
or heard of such a thing." When they investigated, the
engineers discovered that excavators had undermined
the building when they dug out dirt for an underground
parking garage. Even the sturdiest of buildings needs a
foundation in order to stand.

So it is with us. We may build an impressive ministry
for God, but we never grow so tall that we can afford
to neglect our foundation. Indeed, the tallest buildings
require the deepest foundations. With that said, our
foundations are:

â€¢ Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), It's good to serve
in church, care for the poor, and follow current doctrinal
discussions. But religious duties, social work, and
theological knowledge are no substitute for knowing and
loving Jesus.

â€¢ The Word of God (Ephesians 2:20), It's good to read
Christian books, attend Christian concerts, and download
sermons from our favorite preachers, but none of these
should replace our diligent study of God's Word.

â€¢ Obedience, Jesus said that a wise man builds his
house upon a rock when he "listens to My teaching and
follows it" (Matthew 7:24). It's good to know the Word of God, but if we ignore
His will and do what we want, we're foolishly building our lives on sand.

The higher we grow, the deeper we must go. The wider we branch out, trying
new ministries and attempting great things for God, the more important our
foundation becomes. Don't coast on your reputation or past success. Your life
will crash if you ever stop loving Jesus and obeying His Word. , Mike Wittmer
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